stomach. now it's time for "the last word holiday showdown. house republicans reject the senate's two-month extension of the payroll tax cut just days before it expires. out of luck. a utah man's thrill over winning a brand new lamborghini is short-lived. camera catches a fedex driver trashing a delivery. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. today we begin with payroll politics. pushing back against a senate bill passed over the weekend,

house republicans refuse to hold a vote that could have extended payroll tax cuts before they expire at the end of the month. instead they challenged senate democrats to come back to town to negotiate a new deal, a political gambit that could end up being paid for by tens of millions of americans. tracie potts joins us from washington. good morning. there are a lot of details. >> reporter: there are, but it's interesting this may be winding down. we're now seeing house members, republicans, start to make their exit from washington, as well, and that idea forcing democrats back into town to negotiate a longer deal, well, it looks like that's not working. there is one thing republicans and democrats agree on. >> the arrogance of this place is outstanding. it's unbelievable. >> what is happening here today is shameful, takes disgrace. it is unreal. >> reporter: the house rejected

the senate's deal to extend your payroll tax break for 60 days. republicans want democrats to come back to washington to try again to negotiate a full year. democrats say no, no one's blinking. in fact, more members are leaving town, leaving millions of paychecks in limbo. within republican calls it a high stakes poker game. >> it's not a game for the average family who doesn't have an extra thousand bucks to lose. >> i need the president to help out. >> reporter: but president obama insists the two month extension is the only option. democrats blame conservative republicans. >> apparently the tea party tail is wagging the elephant. >> reporter: so where is all this going? >> republicans are privately conceding that their party is likely to back down in the end. the question is going to be how quickly and at what political cost. >> reporter: and what cost for 160 million workers watching their paychecks. plus almost 2.5 million people

who could lose unemployment checks plus 48 million seniors whose doctors could not get paid come january 1st or their payments can be delayed. a lot at stake. >> tracie potts for us in washington. thank you. last night on the rachel maddow show, charles schumer was barely able to hide his glee with the house republicans payroll ax cut move which he thinks is already back firing on them. >> the republicans have had bad day after bad day after bad day. today was a terrible day for them. first speaker boehner promised to put the bipartisan 89-10s pass senate bill on the floor. he couldn't because he knew it would pass. he knew there were 50, 60, 70 republicans who would join the democrats to vote for it. so he puts together this subterfuge which is send to a committee. well, you you don't have to be in washington to know that if you want to kill something without fingerprints, you send

to a committee. republicans continue to desert boehner. today three more major senate republicans said he ought to just pass our senate bill. grassley and whitaker, and senator mccain said this is hurting the republican party. and third and probably worst of all for them, i think they were hoping that president obama would sit down and say, yes, let's negotiate. you but the president saw what we're all see willing, that will is a sham, that they really don't want to pass a payroll tax cut, but don't want their finger prints on it. >> don't miss the the rachel maddow show week nights at 9:00. and another programming note for you. today chuck todd spends the day with presidential candidate mitt romney joining him on the campaign trail in new hampshire. chuck will have a live interview with the former governor on the daily rundown, that's at 9:00 a.m. eastern time. a bloody crack down continues in syria with reports of more than 100 deaths over the past two days.

including dozens of defectors from president bashar al assad forces. amateur video shows what is to be the result of bloody clashes between protesters and government forces in and around damascus. this week's surge in violence is believed to be a so-called last push by assad's regime before arab league monitors arrive in that country. in what's called the biggest women's demonstration in cairo, demanding the government military step down. marchers carried a photo of a woman whose clothes were partially pulled off by troops as a symbol of their outrage over the brutal treatment of female protesters. some 10,000 chanting women carried signs, turned out for the massive march throughout downtown cairo. this as 14 people were reportedly killed during a fifth day of clashes between protesters and military forces. back here at home, it may

not officially be winter yet but a blistering snowstorm that plowed through the southwest and southern plains was a bitter reminder of what's in store over the next few months. at least six deaths are blamed on the severe storm that's fizzling out as it moves toward the great lakes. roads were closed across kansas and the texas panhandle to allow crews to clear snow and treacherous patches of ice. near whiteout conditions piled snow drifts up to ten feet. now here's your first look at some of the other news going on around america today. a flight headed for georgia ended tragically on a new jersey highway. parts of the small aircraft scattered after it smashed in to the wooded area. the pilot, his wife and their two children and a family friend were killed. holiday tragedy also struck a georgia family in texas when a small plane crash killed all five on board. the pilot, his wife, two children and brother perished in

the rural area crash. the winner of a raffle, which gave him a brand new lamborghini wrecked the car after driving over black ice, only six hours after receiving the key. the car is insured and it will be repaired. finally, fedex is dealing with a public relations nightmare. security footage of a delivery man tossing a brand new flat-screen over a recipient's fence has gone viral. the shipping giant tweeted the careless treatment of a package, quote, will be addressed. now no for a look at your weather, let's check in with bill kirarinskarins. he's really strong that key just lob it over. >> it was a commuter monitor and i guess it did break.8key

just lob it over. >> it was a commuter monitor and i guess it did break.key just lob it over. >> it was a commuter monitor and i guess it did break. good morning, everyone. we did have the snowstorm no kansas. areas in blue is where there is snow on the ground. so mostly up in canada. this is the snow that fell yesterday. north texas, oklahoma, portions of colorado. and then we have the snow that you'd expect in the high elevations of the rocky, sierras, cascades. usually we have snow at this time of year in the appalachians, but there's really hardly any showing up. just feel horrible for the ski resorts and appalachians, pennsylvania, and even new england, they're really struggling, another very warm morning out there. so thcan't really make snow. 39 in boston this morning. a very warm morning in d.c. that's how warm we should be on a nice sunny winter day, 50

degrees. a lot of light rain ohio down to florida. so just have the umbrella handy. steadiest rains are working their way up through ly erie an. a little rain south of atlanta. heavy raun down in down to the . snowfall, some tonight. denver will have a white christmas. you're looking at six inches later tonight. everyone else just looks warm and damp. doesn't feel like the end of december. in all right, bill, thanks so much. coming up, good news in the battered housing sector. authorities raid one corporate headquarters. which city is breaking the record for tourism? your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. sanctions for one of college

football's most prestigious programs and don mattingly like you've never seen him before, in a dress. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] now there's a mileage card that offers special perks on united, like a free checked bag, united club passes, and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ okay. what's your secret?

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welcome back. here are some of the top stories making news this morning. kim jong-un, kim jong-il's youngest son, has received a crucial endorsement from china as north korean's next leader. they are monitoring north korea for signs of instability or succession struggle. for the first time a government advisory board is asking journals not to publish details of two controversial experiments. they believe it could provide a recipe to terrorists for a bioweapon. american airlines is predicting 4.3 million travelers will fly this holiday season, down 1% from last year. the group blames the economy and

high fuel prices but says planes will be packed due to reductions in the number of flights and airplane size. some shocking numbers out of england. an informal study found 9 in 10 baby changing tables in public rest rooms tested positive for trace amounts of cocaine. and a penthouse on new york city's central park has sold to the 22-year-old daughter of a russian billionaire for a record $88 million. that's $13,000 a square foot. some killer parties will be going on this. now here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,103 after skyrocketing 337 points yesterday. the s&p spiked 35 points. nasdaq surged 80. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei climbed 123 points. while in hong kong the hang seng

rose. surprisingly strong housing data and hopeful signs from europe sent stocks soaring tuesday. new home construction jumped over 9%, best in a year and a half. building permits also rose. home builders group mdc holding and dr horton all rose. the euro gained against the dollar after spain's borrowing costs plunged at a short-term debt auction. consumer confidence unexpectedly rose in germany. europe's major markets were sharply higher. financials climbed, led by jpmorgan chase and wells fargo after the fed released new bank oversight proposals that were not as tough as feared. big ripples after at&t dropped its t-mobile bid. sprint nextel, which opposed the deal, gained as did altell and juniper networks. general mills fell. red hat plunged after forecasting lower than expected revenue. after the bell, nike rose on

higher quarterly profit. oracle tumbled late as earnings fell short of estimates for the first time in a decade. and jabil fell in late trade after missing on revenue. police raided the tokyo headquarters of olympus today, part of a fraud, corruption and coverup probe that has shaken faith in corporate japan. new york city will surpass a record 50 million visitors this year, providing an estimated $32 billion in tourist spending. finally, thought to be lost for decades, orson welles' oscar for "citizen kane" was sold at auction for $860,000. the buckeyes get bopped. college football bowl action. rangers and devils drop the gloves almost before the puck hits the ice. plus, known as the hitman during his playing days, now you might call dodger manager don mattingly the nutccker.

this will haunt him for a long time. your first look at sports is straight ahead. ♪ i think i'm falling ♪ i think i'm falling ♪ ♪ i think i'm falling ♪ i think i'm falling ♪ i think i'm falling [ male announcer ] this is your moment. ♪ for you ♪ [ male announcer ] this is zales, the diamond store. take an extra 10 percent off storewide wednesday only.

welcome back to "first look". in sports, ohio state, one of the nation's most storied college football programs, will pay a hefty price for rule violations. here's nbc's mar i don't so he lease. >> good morning. unless you're ohio state. the school's football team given a one-year bowl ban for violations incurred when players

traded memorabilia for cash at an ohio tattoo parlor. it occurred between 2008 and 2010. the coach at the time, jim tressel, slapped with an penalty, making it unlikely he'll coach in college for the next five years. bo marshall and florida international in st. petersburg. final minute, avoids the sack and finds the stealing touchdown. hockey in new jersey, devils and rangers don't really like each other. a bit of a skirmish on opening face-off and three seconds in, we've got a fight. 40 minutes of penalties handed out in the game's first two minutes of play. eventually they focus on hockey and the rangers beat up the devils on the ice. carl hagelin with the goal. nba, last year's mvp handsomely rewarded. derrick rose getting a five-year contract extension worth nearly $95 million.

bulls hosting the pacers. second quarter, rose on the run, pretty reverse layup. bulls win by eight, opening the season christmas day in l.a. against the lakers. finally, time to get in the holiday spirit with a little rendition of "the nutcracker" starring don mattingly. the dodger skipper and former yankee great wearing a wig and a dress for the role of mother ginger in the christmas classic. donny baseball took the stage in his hometown of evansville, indiana, and he had to know the video would surface, guarantee his players will never let mother ginger mattingly hear the end of it. that's your first look at sports. and now for another look at the weather, here is bill karps wi kar karns with the forecast. don mattingly was one of my here ross and iheros and i'm no shock. i'm hoping it's for his children

or family or school. i just need a little back story to give him some support. good morning, everyone. temperatures are very warm this morning. you really don't need the heavy jacket or the gloves. but bring the umbrella. still a little chilly up in new england, but by your standard, mid-30s is mild. not really any wintry precip. the green on the map is rain just about everywhere. even in cleveland where you had snow last week, i don't think it will survive for a white christmas for you. pittsburgh, 54. buffalo, 47. d.v d.c., 62 today. more snow heading for denver, but that's about it. >> all right, bill, thanks so much. coming up, a movie star is injured surfing. a music star proves he's not dead. and a reality star is hit with a multimillion dollar lawsuit. plus he's a much publicized student off screen, but has his

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did you see this? facebook founder mark zuckerberg went hunting, killed a bison, nicknamed it billy and mounted it's head on the wall. he was like anybody else want to complain about the new time line? that's right. which explains why today all my farmville animals migrated to friendster. a town in the uk held a reindeer race friday night. and of course it happened to be right when my grandma was

crossing the street. that's right, there was a reindeer race on friday. the runners included dasher, dancer, prancer and the winner of the race, mutumbay. >> tonight he welcomes lewis c.k. and aretha franklin. that's late night with jimmy fallen week nights at 12:35, 11:35 central time on your local nbc station. i'm for your first look at entertainment news. talk about biting the hand that feeds you. piers morgan sounded like anything but a fan of celebrities. he told england's inquiry into media ethics he never authorized phone-hacking and blasted celebrities who used the media for publicity and exposure and then whine about privacy. gerard butler is recovering after a weekend surfing accident in which he was dragged over rocks and held under water.

after internet death rumors, jon bon jovi posted a shot of himself on facebook and twitter, with a sign reading heaven looks a lot like new jersey. snooki hit her branding partner with a lawsuit. she's been smacked back with a $7 million countersuit. and finally, did james franco really get an easy "a" in grad school? a former nyu professor filed a lawsuit claiming he was fired for giving franco a "d" after franco showed up for only two of 14 scheduled classes. so were you the guy who paid people to write your paper? >> oh, lynn berry. no, i always did my papers. but i kind of wait until the last minute on a few of them. >> i don't picture that either. i'm lynn berry and this is

"first look." but stay tuned, "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. newt gingrich takes a stand in iowa accusing mitt romney of lying about his relationship with the super packs. meanwhile newt counters with his own advising in a form of a christmas message with calista. the question is what won out? millions of dollars in negative ads or a bit of holiday cheer. and speaking of holiday cheer, the house republicans rejected a payroll tax bill potentially giving the worst holiday gift ever to 160 americans. the question is, will this political maneuvering backfire on the gop? and bill clinton weighs in to the 2012 race handicapping president obama's chances and offering an awkward pause when asked whether he respects newt gingrich as a man. the question is, will the most gifted politician in a generation be able to